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Hamas rejected reports that it has terminated its ceasefire agreement with Israel, accusing Israeli sources of fabricating claims and calling on mediators to pressure Tel Aviv to comply with the truce signed last month.
Izzet er-Risk, head of Hamas's Media Office, issued a written statement dismissing allegations that the Palestinian militant group had informed U.S. officials the agreement was over. "Israeli sources' claims that Hamas told Witkoff the agreement ended have no basis in reality," er-Risk said, referring to Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East.
The denial comes amid escalating violence in Gaza, where Israeli strikes killed more than 20 Palestinians, including women and children, in attacks across multiple cities on the same day. Dozens more were wounded in the operations.
Er-Risk accused Israel of manufacturing pretexts to abandon the agreement and return to what he described as a war of annihilation. "The party that violates the agreement every day and systematically is Israel," he said.
Hamas requested that mediators disclose the identity of an alleged armed individual Israel claims the group sent. The Palestinian faction called on mediating countries and the U.S. administration to intervene and force Israeli compliance with the ceasefire terms.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office claimed that an individual attacked Israeli soldiers on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line, the demarcation area in Gaza. In response, Israel said it targeted and killed five senior Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip.
The conflicting accounts emerged after Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya television reported that Hamas had informed Witkoff the ceasefire had ended and the group was prepared to resume fighting—claims Hamas categorically denied.
The ceasefire agreement was signed on October 10. Hamas has repeatedly called on the United States and mediating parties to take action against what it characterizes as Israeli attempts to undermine the truce through continued military operations in Gaza.
The Yellow Line refers to buffer zones and separation areas established in various phases of Israeli-Palestinian agreements, though control and access have remained points of contention throughout the conflict.
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